The death of Ray Easterling last week may change the concussion lawsuit against the National Football League from a personal injury case to a wrongful death case.

The 62-year-old Easterling was found dead in his Virginia home last week from what seems to be a gun shot that he self-inflicted.

Easterling is involved in a lawsuit against the NFL that states that the organization was negligent and careless in the treatment of concussions that caused former NFL players to suffer from long term head injury side effects. Sixty-one different concussion lawsuits have been filed against the league and these represent over 1,000 players.